Shifting Problem on '95 Merc. Sable

JABANGER

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5 POSTS

1995 MERCURY SABLE

1995 Mercury Sable 3.0L w/ roughly 40,000 miles (engine a tranny rebuilt a few years ago) and automatic transmission

When driving at random speeds of 35MPH and up the transmission seems to downshift while driving at a steady pace. There is no warning for this downshift and it will sometimes do it multiple times in a row. It will also get stuck in the lower gear for a few seconds at times to where if I touch the gas the RPM's will sky rocket. The car will even do this if I have the cruise control set. It almost feels like it is something electronic telling the car to do this as there is no akward noise coming from the car when it happens.

I have changed the EGR pressure sensor, speed sensor and cleaned all grounds (to possibly fix another problem). I have also had the car on a diagnostic test and also the ignition module tested with both coming up clean.

Any input would be greatly appreciated as I don't have much money and this will have to be a job I do myself.

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Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 AT 3:21 PM

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MERLIN2021

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17,507 POSTS

Sounds like the setting on the detent cable is way off. Will take tranny shop 30 sec to fix!

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Thursday, April 19th, 2007 AT 1:56 PM

JABANGER

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Detent cable? Never heard of that

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Thursday, April 19th, 2007 AT 5:19 PM

JABANGER

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Is that the cable by the throttle body that you basically just pull a clip then floor the throttle and let it go then replace the clip again?

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Friday, April 20th, 2007 AT 9:59 AM

MERLIN2021

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17,507 POSTS

Yes. You car may have one may not if not it an internal solinoid in the tranny.

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Friday, April 20th, 2007 AT 5:40 PM

JABANGER

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Would anyone know if a 95 sable has an MLP Sensor and if so where it might be located. I have been searching other forums and found someone else with a similar problem and apparently the tranny shop he took the car to changed an MLP sensor and it fixed the problem.

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Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 AT 12:23 PM

JABANGER

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Well I adjusted the Detent cable which really wasn't a cable. More of a black fitting with ridges to make adjustments. It seemed to help and the car doesn't downshift as much but it still does do it. I guess my next step is going to be the MLP Sensor.

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Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 AT 12:16 PM

JDAVIS763

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I have the same downshift problem withmy Sable. I changed the MLP sensor (also known as the neutral safety switch) based on a thread I saw somewhere else. Just my luck that this did nothing to correct the problem. If you run across the problem, please let me know. I can't diagnose the problem, as teh pcm in my car will not communicate with a code scan tool.